Releases 18 October 2024
Founded by Helena Ros Redon and Marta Torrella i Martínez, Tarta Relena explores the rich vocal traditions of the Mediterranean, singing in languages such as Classical Greek, Italian, Spanish, Latin, Catalan, Ladino, and more. Their music blends sacred and secular influences, drawing inspiration from flamenco, lyrical song, traditional music, and electronic experimentation.
És pregunta dives into themes of tragic contemplation, portraying the tension between natural and human forces grappling with mysterious and inevitable consequences. The album is a conceptual journey through fate, knowledge, and the struggle to reconcile our future selves with present realities. Influenced by Mediterranean folk, Georgian laments, and the mystic works of 12th-century visionary Hildegard von Bingen, Tarta Relena crafts a vibrant sonic world where the past and future converge.
Renowned for their captivating live performances, Tarta Relena has enchanted audiences at festivals like Sónar, Le Guess Who?, Mutek, Big Ears, and Primavera Sound. Their stage presence is enriched by subtle electronics and rhythmic patterns played on a ceramic amphora, creating a unique texture to their vocal artistry. Collaborations with artists such as Marina Herlop and Maria Arnal i Marcel Bagés have further pushed the duo to explore new dimensions of contemporary folk music. For Tarta Relena, folk is a living tradition – deeply rooted in the past but always evolving. Tarta Relena will debut És pregunta live at Unsound on October 2, 2024.
« Time and distance collapse in the music of Tarta Relena. With little more than their two voices, Helena Ros and Marta Torrella connect the far corners of the Mediterranean, drawing on traditions stretching back more than a thousand years. This is music of primal essence and unnameable longing, full of frequencies that seem to tap an ancient ache in one’s bones.» – Pitchfork
- Amvrosías (1:45)
- Mille risposte (2:39)
- Tamarindo (3:06)
- Si veriash a la rana (3:20) — out now
- Beata viscera (3:19)
- Galenismós (2:51) — out now
- Mano décima (3:42)
- Tuba mirum (2:43) — out now
- La font (2:38)
- Odniramat (3:21)
- Crit premonitori (5:35)
Helena Ros Redon & Marta Torrella i Martínez
Vinyl, Digital, Streaming
Silas Bieri at in-discourse AB, Malmö, Sweden
Honest Jon’s
Katharina Schilling